A Change of Husband - Chapter 43

News of a sudden demonstration of a new weapon had spread.

There had been no mention of a new weapon purchase, so the idea of a new weapon came out of nowhere. To make things even more surprising, the demonstration was scheduled for 3 p.m. on the same day the news was announced. The knights murmured among themselves and headed to the forest behind the Medici Mansion, where the demonstration would take place.

At the scheduled time, Duke and Duchess Camedici arrived at the demonstration site.

The knights looked worriedly at Jonathan, who stood behind Esperad and Asilie.

Since no one could tell where a blind sword might fly, it was a dangerous situation, and they were concerned about the young boy being present.

“Today, this boy will demonstrate the new weapon.”

When Esperad announced this, the knights couldn’t hide their shock and looked back and forth between him and the young boy.

They couldn’t accept that a weak boy, who didn’t seem strong enough to lift even the lightest of swords, would be demonstrating the new weapon.

Besides, they had heard that the new weapon was on a completely different level compared to anything they had seen before.

Stronger weapons usually meant heavier weight, so the knights whispered to one another that it didn’t make sense.

Even so, Esperad remained calm and showed no sign of changing his mind.

Eventually, among the knights, Sir Gaut, who was known to speak up when needed, carefully stepped forward.

“Your Grace, I apologize, but unless the new weapon is something like a throwing star, I don’t think that boy is suitable for the demonstration.”

“I agree. Wouldn’t it be better to choose a knight who can properly handle weapons?”

The knights around them nodded in agreement. But Esperad didn’t back down.

“This demonstration belongs to the boy. Let’s begin.”

Jonathan stepped forward, holding a large gun.

Only then did the knights realize the strange object was the new weapon, and they looked at it with curious eyes.

It had an unusual appearance, but just the fact that it was a “new weapon” was enough to grab the knights’ attention.

“I feel like I’ve seen something similar before.”

“Similar?”

“That long tube. I heard that a famous warrior tribe from a foreign land blows poison darts through a long tube.”

“But there’s no mouthpiece to blow air through on that thing.”

At Esperad’s gesture, a servant untied the cow that had been tied to a tree for the demonstration.

Even the knights, who had been chatting about the weapon, now held their breath and watched closely.

Jonathan placed a long rod wrapped in dry cloth into the barrel and cleaned the inside. Then he inserted gunpowder and a bullet, pressed it down using a tool, added ignition powder, and shook the gun slightly.

The boy quickly placed the barrel on his small shoulder, then carefully aimed the gun at the cow.

“What is he trying to do with that—?”

Bang—

A gunshot loud enough to swallow all other sounds rang through the forest behind the Medici Mansion.

The knights, who had been watching with puzzled expressions due to the strange weapon and the odd actions of the boy, instinctively took a step back at what happened next.

Just moments ago, the cow had been walking around normally, but as the deafening blast echoed, it collapsed to the ground.

And it wasn’t just that it collapsed.

After a short tremble, the cow didn’t move again.

It had died. All from a single, loud shot.

Even the sharpest sword couldn’t kill a large cow like that in one strike.

It was impossible. But this small boy had killed the cow with ease and without breaking a sweat.

An unbelievable thing had just happened.

“What just happened?”

“Did you see?”

“I didn’t see anything.”

“Was the sound so loud it killed the cow from shock?”

The knights, completely stunned, forgot they should stay silent and began murmuring.

Among them, only Edgar, who had heard some explanation about the new weapon, checked how the bullet had been fired and his eyes lit up.

When he had only heard the explanation, it was hard to believe. But after seeing it for himself, he couldn’t deny it.

The gun was a one-of-a-kind weapon that couldn’t be replaced by anything else right now.

The Duchess who recognized the value of this weapon…

He looked at Asilie with a strange expression.

She, who had made all of this happen, remained calm as if she had expected this outcome all along.

Even Esperad, who was doing his best to act composed, showed signs of being shaken. But not her.

A moment later, Esperad, having barely regained his composure, stood up to address the situation.

“Everyone has seen the power of the new weapon.”

The knights all fell silent.

They had seen for themselves the power of the new weapon. Some even felt fear and caution toward its overwhelming destructive force.

“What exactly is that thing?”

Sir Gaut asked.

He was a true warrior who had never stopped training since he chose the path of a knight.

To him, that weapon looked like a terrifying tool.

It was too strange. Enhancing military strength was important, but that weapon could cause massive upheaval.

A weak boy with no muscle could Asilie defeat a well-trained knight.

In fact, it might even be possible to kill a knight before they could draw their sword.

“The name of the new weapon is a gun. It’s a ranged weapon, and surprisingly, even a boy who hasn’t fully grown can become a great fighter from a distance if he learns how to use it.”

“That’s exactly the problem, Your Grace.”

“What do you mean?”

At Esperad’s question, Sir Gaut hesitated for a moment before answering.

“I feel fear. That object is a cruel and outrageous weapon that could make all of a knight’s hard work meaningless.”

The other knights, who had been impressed by the weapon’s power, also hardened their expressions.

They had only imagined using the weapon, but hadn’t thought about what it would be like to face it as an enemy.

The idea of having to face that gun made their heads spin.

Knights didn’t feel shame in losing a duel.

Losing just meant they hadn’t trained as hard as the victor. That’s why knights saw defeat as another chance to learn.

But this weapon was different.

It didn’t seem to offer any learning through loss. And unlike other weapons, it didn’t seem to require grueling training either.

At a glance, a gun looked like a weapon based on luck.

“So what would you have us do, Sir Gaut?”

Esperad asked.

Sir Gaut knew he had the floor, but it wasn’t easy to answer.

There was no doubt that the weapon was dangerous, but its power couldn’t be ignored.

He immediately realized the gun was too great to abandon just because it undermined the knights’ efforts. Still, he couldn’t help being afraid.

At that moment, Asilie, who had not spoken a single word since arriving in the forest, turned to Jonathan.

“What do you think?”

“Me?”

“Since you were the one using the gun, I thought you’d have the clearest sense of its strengths and weaknesses as a weapon.”

Asilie, for now, hid the fact that Jonathan had invented the gun.

In the future, guns became common in Astel, but even then, they never became the main weapon.

That was because of a critical flaw in the gun.

“I think the advantage is that anyone can use it if they learn how, and its destructive power is amazing. But the downside is…”

Jonathan paused to think.

Until now, he had only admired the power of the gun he created and hadn’t thought deeply about its flaws.

“It takes a long time to load, and during that time, you can be exposed to the enemy. Also, the gunpowder is affected by the weather, so I think it’d be hard to use on rainy or humid days…”

“So it might be fine as a secondary weapon, but not as a primary one.”

“Yes, for now.”

Even if some people resisted the gun, it would eventually be accepted because of its efficiency.

But they couldn’t just wait until then. If that were the case, there would have been no need to rush its invention.

That’s why Asilie chose to point out the gun’s flaws.

The knights were too overwhelmed by the gun’s power, so she wanted to give them a chance to evaluate it more objectively.

Esperad understood her intention and quickly turned back to the knights.

“The gun has many limitations, so it cannot yet be our main weapon. Still, it can serve various roles in many types of battle.”

He thought a highly skilled knight who used a gun for long-range combat and a sword for close-range could become an incredibly versatile warrior.

The knights hesitated, torn between fear of losing their place and a desire to grow stronger.

Esperad knew that simply waiting wouldn’t convince them. In fact, it might make things worse.

“Starting today, we’ll accept applications from those who want to use the new weapon. One week from now, we’ll begin distribution. Sir Villian will teach its usage and be in charge of managing the list of applicants.”

With that firm announcement, he turned away—because he understood the hearts of knights all too well.

To Asilie, Esperad had always been a warm person.

A thoughtful, kind, and caring man.

Except for the time she first came to ask him for marriage, and the moment when her life was truly at risk during the third attack, he had never shown a different side of himself.

Maybe that’s why the calm and charismatic side of Esperad she saw today in front of the knights felt so unfamiliar.

It was like seeing a completely different person who only looked like him on the outside.

She had known, to some extent, that the way he acted around her wasn’t all there was to him—after all, he had a family to lead and was involved in politics.

But seeing it with her own eyes was different from just imagining it.

To Asilie, it felt very strange.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

Esperad asked when he could no longer ignore how she was zoning out and not focusing on her work.

Ever since they returned from the firearm demonstration, all of his attention had been on her.

He had heard that the gun made a loud noise, but hearing it in the forest was far louder than he had expected.

Even he had been startled, so Esperad was worried that Asilie might still be dazed from the sound.

“Oh, I was just thinking about some things.”

“You seem to be having a hard time concentrating.”

“Do I? Hmm, maybe you’re right. So many things have happened lately, all without a break.”

“Then how about taking it easy today?”

Esperad suggested, almost as if he’d been waiting to say that.

Though they had spent a lot of time together recently, he still felt a little disappointed that they hadn’t had a moment to enjoy casual conversation.

“But we’ll fall behind on work.”

“I already took care of the urgent matters, and there’s nothing we absolutely have to finish today.

When you can’t focus, it might be better to take a good rest and then finish things all at once later.”

“Esperad, it feels like you’re leading me into laziness way too naturally.”

“Sometimes being lazy isn’t a bad thing. Especially for someone like you who lives every day so busily.”

Normally, she might’ve just brushed it off.

But today, the words ‘lives every day so busily’ hit her differently.

She hadn’t realized it herself, but if Esperad was bringing it up—even half-jokingly—maybe she really had been pushing herself too hard.

Now that she thought about it, her days had always been full of some kind of incident or trouble.

The only time she had taken things slow was at the very beginning of their marriage, when she had refused to take on any duties as the lady of the house until the spy within the duke’s estate was caught.

“Now that I think about it, I guess that’s true. I’ve really been busy ever since I married you.”

“Sounds like I’m the reason you’ve been so busy.”

“That’s not it, Esperad. Don’t think like that.”

“I’m not saying it to shift all the blame onto myself. I’m just stating a fact.”

“Still, I don’t like hearing it said that way.”

Esperad gave her a soft smile.

He didn’t know why, but he much preferred it when Asilie clearly said, “I don’t like that,” instead of simply thanking or apologizing to him.

Even if it was a negative expression.

“Is there anything else you don’t like?”

“Huh?”

“I’m asking because I want to be careful.”

If you don’t like it, then there’s no way I could.

Esperad kept that last thought quietly to himself.

Asilie looked at him for a moment, then suddenly seemed to make up her mind.

“We haven’t talked about that yet.”

“What do you mean by ‘that’…?”

“The matter of… a child.”

Silence fell.

Esperad said nothing and simply looked at her.

To Asilie, it felt like he was waiting for her decision.

It was strange.

Both of them had every right to talk about this topic, and if one of them had more say in it, it was probably him.

So why did he look like he was just waiting?

“You don’t have anything to say…?”

“You brought up the topic of a child just after I asked you to tell me what you dislike. I understood what you meant by that, so I feel like saying anything now would just put pressure on you, and I want to avoid that.”

“Why aren’t you asking why?”

“Because the reason doesn’t really matter.”

“What do you mean it doesn’t matter?”

Esperad seemed like someone giving her a riddle, and she felt like the one trying to solve it.

The conversation kept flowing in that way.

Asilie was getting frustrated, unable to follow his thoughts, and asked him again.

“If I didn’t understand your decision, I would’ve asked why. But I do understand, so I don’t need a reason.”

“So why…?”

“If you don’t want to, then that’s enough. I don’t need to ask for your reasons if that’s your choice.”

His sincere attitude left her speechless.

As Esperad quietly looked into her amber eyes, he spoke in a very soft voice, almost like a whisper in her ear.

“I could never dare to force you into something you dislike, Asilie. Even recommending something good would have to be done with caution.”

“…”

“To you, I always will.”

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